25/5 – Perfect water and expert commentators.

Early morning, sunshine, no cars on the road, birds singing here and there, small lizards flying across the road, no one else on the beach or in the water and the lagoon was like absolute glass. Not a ripple in sight, pristine and absolutely perfect - for water skiing. Too bad we were there for kite surfing.

Instead, last Sunday was spent sleeping in the sun, reading books in the sun, playing frescobol in the sun, practising Eskimo rolls in the sun and finally when we’d given up the waiting for the wind and before heading back to Rio, having lunch in the sun. At a small kiosk, on the beach, in Praia Seca, with the ultimate entertainment of a 4WD being stuck in sand. They looked very cool when they came driving along the beach. It stopped looking very cool slightly after it was obvious that they weren’t going to become unstuck very soon after burying their tyres in the sand.
Of course, we were the ultimate experts when watching the show. It’s like we had never done else than getting cars out of the sand when stuck. There was no limit to how many details we could comment on and we knew exactly why they didn’t manage to get unstuck, but just digging themselves deeper down every time they tried. In other words, once again a brilliant recipe to keep gringos happy entertainment wise, and that nice balance of people being in a little bit of trouble without being in any danger. To add to the experience, the lunch was brilliant. Catch of the day with all the side orders you can possibly wish for; rice, fries, beans, salad, farofa, lime – the lot. A perfect Sunday lunch on the beach with not only a nice sea view, but also with an ongoing live show. Not to forget the study of the nice dynamic and interesting body language of the couple in respect to each other. Hot tips, when the wife stops digging and pulls out a cigarette instead, she is not happier than she was just before.Just so you don’t think we were only sitting there watching and laughing a bit on the inside, we did go down to help them after finishing our excellent lunch. And they did come loose on the first try after we got there. Then if that had more to do with their stubbornness and persistence than with our ambitious search for wood big and strong enough to replace his silly carpets from the car, I’ll leave to someone else to decide.

19/5 - Finally Niteroi and anyone who knows a wind dance?

Last Sunday, I finally got around to visit Niteroi, the city on the other side of Guanabara Bay. As for many other places and activities, I’ve been thinking about going for months, but it has never seemed to happen really. Could possible be because the list of places and experiences I want to visit and get in my life, doesn’t really match with the time available. Anyways, for once I skipped the typical Rio expat way to go by car and took the Metro and ferry instead. My colleague picked me up at the harbour on the other side and we started the afternoon with Fortaleza de Santa Cruz da Barra. A beautiful drive along the coast, with hills on one side and beaches on the other, took us out to the point of the small peninsula, where the fortress was overlooking the entry of the bay. Chalk white buildings, a small chapel and palm trees and rose bushes along the walk ways within the walls of the fortress, rather made my mind drift to Greek islands and romantic sunsets than to a mindset prepared for the history of the place. Quite scary, how inventive people throughout history seem to have been when it comes to treating prisoners, not only in Brazil - but also in Brazil. Anything from making them go blind to drowning them all in a hollow rock, which would be flooded by the sea, seemed to be great tactics back then.

After the beautiful Brazilian torture place with history lessons, we had a drive around to some of the beaches in the area. They were as pretty as one could wish for so close to a city and heaps better than the touristy Ipanema and Leblon. To make sure we wouldn’t forget that we’re in Brazil, the compulsory oilrig was of course parked in a focus seeking spot to decorate the picture perfect view. The classic Rio joke about Niteroi, is that the best thing with the place is the view. Not sure I would agree it’s the best thing, the beaches will beat it for sure, but no doubt about it – Rio looks great from the other side of the water as well.
We finished the day off with a proper high tea at one of the kilo restaurants. Don’t think you’ll get a more British meal anywhere in this country. As always, kilo places are great, in the way that you only pay for what you choose to put on your plate. Not that great, to get it black on white how much nibbles, triangular sandwiches, chocolates, cakes, crepes and cheese you have actually chosen to put on your plate though. But hey, only Sunday once a week and Niteroi was worth the treat. Thanks Patricia for an excellent afternoon, need to come back and see more for sure.
Awfully quiet about kite surfing lately, don’t you think. Not much moving around on the board unfortunately and not a single ripple on the water to be seen moving at the kite surfing place. The clouds appear to be very stationary and pretty much no moving of anything, anywhere. Not even the air is moving these days. Keep your fingers crossed for some better luck this upcoming weekend, second last chance before swapping Brazilian winter for Scandinavian summer.

16/5 – Thanks Jose!

I’m lucky to have friends with better cameras than my mobile. Thanks Jose for sharing some nice pics from the Red Bull Air Race. To the rest of you, enjoy!